Restoring my Dad's old Racebike

Staff Member

I thought for fathers day I'd drag this thing out of my shop, clean it up, make it run, make the brakes work, shine it up, and present it to my Dad for Fathers Day. I know it's only two weeks away, but I think I can get it all done since it's in half way decent shape.

The hardest part is the clear windscreen which is custom and currently has a large chunk missing. If anyone knows of a fabber in the Portland local area hit me up. This is not mission critical but if I can get it done I'd like to. Dad says he knows someone that can do it, so it may have to wait. He has expressed interest in doing this in the past, but doesn't currently have the space to do it. I'm thinking if I can get it done, it would probably make his day and maybe inspire him to go buy another bike and do some riding again.

Regardless, this piece of history deserves to be brought back to life. He used to race at PIR in the late 70's early 80's, and was racing at SIR when Mt St Helens blew. He was one of the last people over the Toutle river bridge before they closed it. I'll have to check the plaques, but I know he consistently place in the top three in the class he ran which I believe was 500cc Singles. More details will come.

It's a 1970 something Honda XL 250 with a Powroll bore, stroke and camshaft. I believe it's punched out to somewhere around 380cc. He hand made on a lathe the front and rear hubs to run disc brakes. Hand made the fiberglass fairing, seat, gas tank, and pretty much every other part except the frame and motor. Truly a work of art!!

Progress tonight so far....

You thought FMF invented the PowerBomb header? Think again. Dad was using that design in the 70's, and here's proof.

Pay attention to the race number....

Carb slide

Inside of the carb bowl.....never seen one quite so black before.

So tonight I'm going to source a carb kit. Tomorrow night is to tear down both brake systems and source rebuild kits for those also. After that, it should be cake to make it rideable again.

If anyone has any advice about old fiberglass gas tanks, I'm all ears.

Staff Member

Can you see the jet size? I'm sure it's not the same as what you would get in a kit. Probably just have to try to polish up the old ones. Just a thought.

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Not concerned with the jets. I can clean those up. Concerned with bowl gasket, floats and choke plunger. Choke plunger has rubber on the end and it may not seal well. Bowl gasket is shot. The rest I can clean up as the needle and seat have no rubber, there is no o-ring for the A/F screw, really no soft parts other than the bowl gasket.

Staff Member

Did I mention that I'm also pit crew for a Chump car? Sometimes (rarely) I have time to work on my own stuff. Turning wrenches is in my blood if you can't already tell that. If anything is my Zen, that's it.

How's the tank look inside? If the carb is any indication it might be nasty. If the paint shows no signs of leaking. I'd clean it with??? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what to clean it with. I guess whatever will clean out old gooey fuel. Maybe just flush and brush with fresh gas?:scratchea

When I was 12 yrs old my old man built a 100 gal fuel tank for his F250, never had any problems with it. I think it weighed 150lbs. He made EVERYTHING thing out of F.glass.:angry7:

Staff Member

How's the tank look inside? If the carb is any indication it might be nasty. If the paint shows no signs of leaking. I'd clean it with??? Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what to clean it with. I guess whatever will clean out old gooey fuel. Maybe just flush and brush with fresh gas?:scratchea

When I was 12 yrs old my old man built a 100 gal fuel tank for his F250, never had any problems with it. I think it weighed 150lbs. He made EVERYTHING thing out of F.glass.:angry7:

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Yeah, the question is what to clean it with! I don't see any leaks, haven't shined a light in there yet to see. Having a hard time coming up with carb parts. I can find whole carbs, but parts are being difficult. All I really need is a bowl gasket and possibly a choke plunger for a Mikuni VM32. There is no rubber on the float needle and no o-ring for the A/F screw. No real soft parts to speak of.

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